Gov. Gavin Newsom urges counties to expand conservatorship laws to combat homelessness, other crisis

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging California counties to implement a new law that makes it easier to appoint a conservator to direct the care of people suffering from mental illness or substance abuse in order to prevent further crisis, such as imprisonment, homelessness or death.

County health departments have until January 2026 to implement the changes outlined in Senate Bill 43, which was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Newsom last October. Since then, only San Francisco and San Luis Obispo counties have taken advantage of the new law.

Los Angeles County, the largest county in the state, has not done so.

Newsom sent a letter to the chairs of all of the state’s 58 county Board of Supervisors on Saturday urging them to immediately expand conservatorship laws in their jurisdictions.

“I am disappointed that only two counties in California have implemented this critical, lifesaving work to date and only a few others have plans to implement in 2025,” the governor wrote.

“Despite having unprecedented tools at your disposal to start helping our state’s most vulnerable people right now, you are still waiting to implement this element of the work to improve our conservatorship system until the absolute deadline.”

The bill introduced by Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) is part of a decades-long legislative effort to amend the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act passed in 1967. That law said someone could be detained against their will if they are “gravely disabled” or posed a danger to themselves or others.

In recent years legislators have worked to overhaul that landmark law passed when Ronald Reagan was governor in an effort to address a statewide mental illness crisis made worse by homelessness and illicit drugs, such as fentanyl and methamphetamine.

The new law updates the definition of “gravely disabled” to include people who are unable to provide for their personal safety, medical care, food, clothing or shelter, Newsom said.

Critics, who include human rights and disability rights advocates, argue that SB 43 could undermine the civil liberties of Black, Indigenous and other communities of color, given the demographics of the state’s homeless population.

Others say the measure risks overwhelming a mental health system already stretched to capacity.

Deb Roth, a senior legislative advocate for Disability Rights California, said the bill “will lead to more use of conservatorship, which takes away people’s rights.” Roth testified against the bill before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

In his letter, Newsom described the bill as a more expansive approach for delivering last-resort behavioral health care to those in crisis.

“Every day, I hear about the life-and-death urgency of our behavioral health crisis. I see people languishing on our streets, often forgotten by their own communities,” Newsom said.

“This is wholly unacceptable, and the state has updated our laws to ensure that people experiencing serious mental illness or severe substance use disorder and who are most at-risk of harm to themselves can have a conservator appointed to direct their care — with continued protection of individual rights and increased transparency on data, equity, and outcomes.”

Times staff writer Tom Curwen contributed to this report.